Puppy Love
by Frostylicious
Summary: She bashfully hid her mouth away underneath her comforter and looked to the ground uneasily. Mysterion patiently waited for a response. After a few moments of silence, Karen quickly squeaked out, "I like someone."


It's one o'clock in the morning. I told myself to go to bed early tonight... eventually that didn't happen. D:

Disclaimer: I don't own South Park; it rightfully belongs to Trey Parker & Matt Stone!

* * *

Puppy Love

Karen paced circles around her bedroom for the umpteenth time. She was dealing with something she had never felt before. Kenny had earlier asked what the matter was, but Karen politely refused to answer his question. Revealing a dark secret to her brother was the last thing Karen wanted to do; she didn't know how he would react to it. Instead, she waited all night for her guardian angel to appear. Mysterion was very smart; Karen thought that he would know what to do in a certain situation like this.

It was half past nine o'clock when the hooded protector appeared, perched on her window sill. Karen rushed across the room, happiness clouding her eyes.

"Guardian angel!" she exclaimed in a low voice; she didn't want to wake her family.

"Karen," said Mysterion softly. "I've sensed that something has been troubling you lately. Would you like to talk about it?"

The little girl nodded hastily. Karen jumped into bed and pushed herself underneath the blanket. Mysterion leapt from the window and sat on the mattress, joining her. He watched his baby sister sheepishly pick at the battered blanket with a few fingers. From the clear window, moonlight poured into the room, washing Karen's face with a bright pale light. Kenny could see the blood race to her cheeks.

"I thought of telling Kenny about my problem, but I didn't want him to be mad at me," said Karen.

Mysterion tilted his head like a confused puppy dog. "Why would he be angry with you?" he inquired curiously. "You mean the world to him, Karen."

Karen sat up and lay against her pillow, continuing to play with her blanket. The blush crept to her ears. "Well… I, um…"

The angel leaned forward, listening intently. "Yes?"

She bashfully hid her mouth away underneath the comforter and looked to the ground uneasily. Mysterion patiently waited for a response. After a few moments of silence, Karen quickly squeaked out, "I like someone." She then embraced her knees and buried her reddening face into them.

Mysterion pulled away from his sibling's personal space, blinking in shock. Whoa. What a turn of events—he didn't see that one coming; not by a long shot. He swallowed the sudden anger that started to boil in his stomach—his sister couldn't have possibly fallen in love at such a young age—and cleared his throat.

"You… like someone?" he repeated, pushing the distress far back into the depths of his throat. Karen nodded into the blanket. She raised her head; she was smiling from ear to ear, blushing madly.

"I like this boy a whole lot, Guardian Angel," she whispered. Those words tug at Kenny's heartstrings; she was being totally sincere with him. "He's funny, he's sweet as could be, and he has the biggest smile; I believe it can spread all the way to the moon! I've never felt like this before… I feel all mushy inside. And my heart beats a mile a minute when he's near… H-he's like a real prince charming right out of a fairy tale… I'm afraid that Kenny would freak if I told him the truth. He's very protective of me."

Mysterion stared at her thoughtfully.

"Karen…" He looked down, brain ticking in thought, trying to express which words to say. After a full thirty seconds of pondering, Mysterion smiled at the girl. "I… don't think Kenny could be mad at you just for that. And, whether he's going to like this news or not, he'll have to learn to accept it and move on."

Karen nodded slowly, as though feeling ashamed; right out of the blue, Mysterion chuckled. She looked up at him inquiringly before a smile spread across her face.

"Tell me," said Mysterion, attempting to continue their conversation, "does this boy attend South Park Elementary?"

"Yes," Karen confirmed. "He's in the same grade as my brother Kenny."

"I see," said Mysterion.

He rummaged his brain for the mental images of every boy in his class. There was Clyde, Craig, Token, Tweek, Timmy and Jimmy… Kevin, Stan, Cartman, Kyle—_…_ Kenny's brain clicked once he put all the pieces together. A boy who was cheesier than a typical 1950s sitcom, a real prince charming that was cornier than anyone could ever imagine. Wow, talk about a total pushover—… Oh, no. _No_. It couldn't possibly be _him_, could it?

"Does he treat you fairly?" inquired Mysterion.

"He treats everyone with the right amount of respect," Karen replied. "And he tries to brighten everyone's day. He even approached the Goth kids once, but I heard that it didn't turn out so well…"

Mysterion held his head back and stared at the ceiling, letting his mind wander the old memories of a former childhood sweetheart. "First loves are always the sweetest," he stated matter-of-factly. But soon, his content expression twisted with heartache. "But Karen, I must warn you… he may not like you back."

Kenny watched as his little sister bit her bottom lip, snuggling half of her face into her knees again. It shattered him when he heard her sniffling; the tears came crashing down like a waterfall. With a gentle approach, Mysterion gradually reached out and tilted Karen's head upwards by the chin. He moved in and closed the gap between him, kissing Karen on top of the head in reassurance. Then he pulled away, a playful look in his eye, almost impish-like.

"But it wouldn't hurt to confess what you're feeling towards him, hmm?"

Karen shook her head with a smile. She wiped away her tears and dived for a hug which her guardian angel gladly returned.

* * *

Kenny walked with Karen towards the lockers of the fourth grade class. They stopped short when an all too familiar blonde boy in a turquoise sweater came into view, who was putting away a couple of textbooks. Kenny squeezed his sister's hand comfortingly.

"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?" asked Kenny.

Karen didn't look at him, but Kenny could sense her smile getting bigger by the second. She nodded in determination.

"I'm sure."

She looked at him. "Thanks for not being mad at me, Kenny!"

"Sure thing, kiddo," he said, watching as she walked off to bravely confess her love to infamous Butters Stotch.

It was then when Stan, Kyle and Cartman joined the boy in the orange parka, English books underneath their arms for the last period of Mr. Garrison's class. They all exchanged puzzled glances and raised eyebrows as they heard the conversation between the two innocent children.

"What the hell is your sister doing with Butters?" asked Cartman rudely. "You know as well as anybody that Butters' nerdiness is severely contagious, Kenny. Just look at Kyle!"

Kyle merely rolled his eyes and heaved his shoulders with a sigh.

"She's experiencing puppy love," Kenny told them, ignoring the fat boy's constant insults.

"And you're cool with this?" asked Stan.

"Yep."

Kyle patted his friend on the shoulder out of appreciation. "I'm really proud of you, Kenny."

But Kenny only shrugged the compliment off. "Thanks Kyle. But Mysterion wins this round. It's all thanks to him; he gave Karen the courage to tell her feelings to Butters. Even if it doesn't work out in the end, there's still plenty of fish in the sea… that is when she turns thirty-six."

Cartman muttered along the lines of him knowing that Kenny wouldn't have the balls to accept his sister's wishes. Of course, Kenny did hear him—and that resulted with Cartman whining after getting a good hard slap on the face. The others watched as Butters gave Karen a hug before walking off to class. Karen returned to Kenny's side, looking awfully crestfallen. Sighing, Kenny put an arm around his sister and held her close. A heartbroken Karen nuzzled her face into his parka.

"It's gonna be okay, Karen," he said, hugging her tightly.

Blinking back tears, Karen smiled up at her brother. Underneath all that rounded fuzz, Kenny smiled back and continued to hug her. He fiddled with her brown locks and wiped her brimming tears with a finger.

"I know, Kenny…," she whispered. It was a disheartening whisper, but it still held a little faith inside itself. "I know."

"I'm sorry that Butters doesn't feel the same way, Karen," Kyle apologized.

"Thank you," said Karen politely. "But I'll be okay. Maybe I'll learn to understand love when I'm a little older."

"That's the spirit!" said Stan cheerfully, pumping a fist.

The first bell rang. Lockers slammed, sneakers scurried across the floor, and Mr. Mackey yelled over everyone's loud chatter for students to quickly return to their classrooms for the last lesson of the day.

"I better get to class…," mumbled Karen gloomily, looking at the ground. She started to walk down the hall, but stopped briefly and turned to Kenny.

"Do you think my guardian angel will come tonight?"

"I don't have any doubt," answered Kenny truthfully. Karen gave him a small smile and hurried back to the second grade homeroom.

When she was out of sight, Kenny narrowed his eyes and crossed his heart as the boys made their way to class.

"Trust me. Mysterion will be there."


End file.
